Liberty's Breanna Stewart Starting Offseason League with Napheesa Collier
Breanna Stewart continues to remove answers from the question "What can't Stewie do?"
The New York Liberty All-Star is teaming up with Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx to form a 3-on-3 league labeled "Unrivaled" that will be staged in Miami during the WNBA offseason from January through March. Their collaboration was first reported by Ramona Shelburne of ESPN and is poised to provide players with more domestic opportunities before prioritization rules strengthen next season.
"We've all been talking and realizing that we're missing a moment, having a lot of our players be overseas or not playing basketball (during the offseason)," Stewart said in Shelburne's report. "I think top players, they want to be playing, right? They want to be home, they want to be playing, but it has to make sense. It has to be right and the money has to be right. I think that's what Unrivaled is trying to do."
Teaming up with Collier, a former teammate at the University of Connecticut and the 2019 WNBA Rookie of the Year, to expand domestic hardwood opportunities took on a bit of a personal meeting for Stewart: with her wife Marta set to give birth to their second child this fall, Stewart had been inspired to take on a greater leadership role.
Unrivaled's leadership group is said to contain experience with renowned media companies like DAZN, Twitter, WWE, and the WTA. Stewart has personally partaken in business meetings to land new partners in anticipation of a January tip-off.
"I feel like I'm breaking down the same thing over and over again to companies," Stewart told Shelburne. "But it's like people need to be shown how to watch us and how to see us and then from there they'll kind of continue to be invested and be like, 'Oh, I do like this. Who is this player and how can I watch them more?' Then follow them in the WNBA."
"It's just trying to be proactive and create initiatives for what we can do in the WNBA offseason besides league marketing agreements and team marketing agreements. What can be player-led?"
Unrivaled would join Athletes Unlimited, which just wrapped up a Dallas-based second season, as offseason competition for WNBA players.
The 3-on-3 variant of basketball has taken on increased popularity in recent years: Big3, partly run by actor and recording artist Ice Cube, is set to enter its sixth season of operation, with its championship slated for O2 Arena in London. Current Liberty star Stef Dolson was part of the United States' victorious run at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, taking the inaugural gold medal in the first-ever 3-on-3 competition alongside Las Vegas Aces stars Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, as well as Atlanta's Allisha Gray.
Stewart and the Liberty (12-4) return to action on Saturday afternoon when the Seattle Storm visit Brooklyn (2 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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